Protecting Multi-Cloud Resources in the Era of Modern Cloud-Based Cyberattacks
Mandiant
Written by: Rupanjana Mukherjee, Jon Sabberton
In the era of multi-cloud adoption, where organizations leverage diverse cloud platforms to optimize their operations, a new wave of security challenges have emerged. The expansion of attack surfaces beyond traditional on-premises environments, coupled with complex permission structures and the prevalence of overly permissive accounts, has created fertile ground for sophisticated cyberattacks.
Our white paper, Standardizing Privileged Access Architecture for Multi-Cloud, explores the critical risks associated with multi-cloud environments, and provides a practical framework for establishing a robust security posture.
This Mandiant paper delves into the intricacies of managing disparate cloud identities, roles, and access control models, highlighting the vulnerabilities that arise from misconfigurations and fragmented security practices. Additionally, this paper examines real-world attack scenarios observed by Mandiant, demonstrating how threat actors exploit these weaknesses to compromise sensitive data, disrupt operations, and gain unauthorized control.
To counter these evolving threats, Mandiant introduces a cloud agnostic tiered security model revolving the following controls, to protect privileged access to critical assets in the cloud:
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Resource tiering within cloud platforms
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Limiting lateral movement through credential tiering
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Enforcing strict access controls through a zero-trust approach
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Apply scalable security configurations and governance for all resources
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Consistent monitoring and analytics practices
This paper discusses an architecture for cloud agnostic tiering, and how it will help protect a hybrid multi-cloud environment from various modern cyberattacks. By implementing the proactive measures outlined in this paper, organizations can effectively mitigate risks associated with a hybrid multi-cloud environment, limit paths of lateral movement, and protect their critical assets in the dynamic multi-cloud landscape.
For organizations exploring multi-cloud deployments and those attempting to secure their current cloud resources, this paper serves as a vital guidance to harden their environment against cloud-based attacks.
Read the paper today. To hear more about the topics discussed in this paper, watch our “Standardizing a Privileged Access Model for a Multi-Cloud Environment” session from mWISE Conference 2024.
